The four-bedroom, mid-Victorian property was in a dilapidated state when Bathurst received the keys. “It was like a dog that had been really badly beaten,” she recalls, “but I wasn’t going to take on anything that couldn’t be completely done over.” At one point, Bathurst was standing in the living room looking at the roof. “Eventually, the roof, the back and the side all had to come off. We were truly left with a shell.” Undaunted, she discovered the power of rolled steel joists and sliding pocket doors and, after 10 months’ planning and a 10-month build, a new floorplan emerged. The typical Victorian structure was reconfigured. Now, on entering the front door, a 2m-wide sliding door takes you into the living space and adjoining office. Along the right-hand side of the living room, the once gloomy corridor and staircase have been boxed in, creating a vast run of built-in storage that conceals “untold amounts of crap”. There’s also a downstairs loo, the walls covered in Fornasetti wallpaper (a perk from her Elle Deco days).

Beyond the office space, another sliding door to the left leads to a beautiful utility room clad in reclaimed Welsh slate. Straight ahead is the open-plan kitchen and dining room, which can be shut off from the rest of the house by another pocket door. (“Useful if you’re having a late one with friends.”) On the first floor are three bedrooms, while the Farrow & Ball Inchyra blue master bedroom – with an adjoining iroko and marble ensuite bathroom – was built into the eaves. Pinterest became a crucial resource for Bathurst, who accumulated hundreds of images, organising them by room. “You’ll notice that you keep referring back to the same one or two images – that becomes your edit,” she says. “Eventually, you’ll find something that is very applicable to yourself.”